Inspection system, inspection method, and inspection program

ABSTRACT

An inspection system includes: an inspection part that compares a scanned image obtained by scanning a sheet on which an image is formed on the basis of a job with a reference image prepared in advance and thereby performs inspection of the scanned image; and a hardware processor that sets an inspection target page to be a target of inspection and a non-inspection target page to be excluded from inspection, for the job, wherein the hardware processor causes the inspection part to perform inspection for the inspection target page and not to perform inspection for the non-inspection target page on the basis of the setting of the hardware processor, and the hardware processor creates an inspection report including scanned images of all pages of the job including the non-inspection target page.

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 17/573,745, filedJan. 12, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 17/482,516,filed on Sep. 23, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No.16/808,468, filed on Mar. 4, 2020, and which claims the priority ofJapanese patent Application No. 2019-073365, filed on Apr. 8, 2019. Theentire disclosures of U.S. Ser. No. 17/573,745, U.S. Ser. No.17/482,516; U.S. Ser. No. 16/808,468; and Japanese patent ApplicationNo. 2019-073365 are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Technological Field

The present invention relates to an inspection system, an inspectionmethod, and an inspection program, and more particularly to aninspection system that inspects a scanned image obtained by scanning asheet on which an image is formed on the basis of a job, an inspectionmethod to be used in the inspection system, and an inspection programthat runs on the inspection system.

Description of the Related Art

An image forming apparatus such as multi-functional peripherals (MFP)occasionally suffers from dirt due to toner or the like, streaks, andspot-like image noise (referred to as fireflies) occurring in a documentimage on a sheet, degradation of color reproducibility, or printingalignment accuracy. To handle these, an automatic inspection function isprovided in the image forming apparatus to inspect the sheet after imageformation. The automatic inspection function is a function that comparesan image (reference image) obtained by scanning at the time of proof orsample output before actual printing with an image obtained by scanningduring the actual printing (inspection image) to extract a differencebetween the reference image and the inspection image, therebydetermining the quality of the inspection image. In addition, by linkingthe automatic inspection function with a purge function to excludeoutput materials from which a difference has been extracted, it is alsopossible to obtain good output materials alone.

Regarding such image inspection, for example, JP 2007-241413 A disclosesa configuration of a page error inspection apparatus that inspectsconsistency between pages in a printing system that prints individualpages on the basis of document image data, including: a first inspectionprocessor that inspects consistency between the pages on the basis ofcode information indicating page order obtained from the document imagedata; and a second inspection processor that inspects consistencybetween the pages on the basis of code information indicating page orderobtained from the document image data and print image data captured fromprinted material on the basis of the document image data.

JP 2015-141093 A discloses an image inspection apparatus that inspects ascanned image obtained by scanning an image formed and output on arecording medium, including: a scanned image acquisition part thatacquires a scanned image generated by scanning the formed and outputimage; an inspection result acquisition part that acquires a differenceimage indicating a difference between an inspection image generated onthe basis of information of an image to be formed and output in order toperform inspection of the scanned image, and the scanned image, and thatacquires an inspection result being a result of determination of a faultin the scanned image on the basis of the difference image; a printcondition information acquisition part that acquires a print conditioninformation indicating a condition at the time of image formation andoutput of an image being a source of the scanned image as an inspectiontarget; a storage processor that performs control to associate thedifference image, the inspection result, and the print conditioninformation with each other to be stored in a storage medium as storageinformation stored by inspection of the image; an evaluation valuecalculation part that calculates an evaluation value indicatingimportance of the storage information on the basis of the printcondition information and the inspection result; a deletiondetermination part that determines storage information to be deletedfrom the storage medium on the basis of the calculated evaluation value;and a deletion processor that deletes the determined storage informationto be deleted.

The quality of the inspection image can be determined by comparing thereference image and the inspection image formed on the sheet under thesame conditions using the automatic inspection function described above.However, in a case where the reference image and the inspection imagehave been formed under different conditions, the quality of theinspection image cannot be determined by comparing these conditions. Forexample, in the case of using sheets such as embossed sheets having sameuneven patterns for each of sheets, the unevenness might vary slightlydepending on the accuracy (error) at the time of manufacturing theembossed sheet. The variation in the unevenness leads to determinationthat there is a difference between the reference image and theinspection image formed on uneven patterns. For this reason, pages thatuse a type of sheet unsuitable for the automatic inspection function areexcluded from the inspection target. Such non-inspection target pagesare not scanned for inspection, or even when they are scanned, scan datawould be discarded with no storage of the inspection image.

As a result, an inspection report indicating an inspection resultincludes only the inspection image and the inspection result of theinspection target page, disabling providing a print request client witha print result of all the output materials including the non-inspectiontarget page. Moreover, since the inspection report does not includeinspection images of non-inspection target pages, it is necessary tofind out the non-inspection target page from the actual output materialsoutput in large quantities to check the print results, causing a heavyburden on the user.

SUMMARY

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, andmainly aims to provide an inspection system, an inspection method, andan inspection program capable of confirming a print result of all outputmaterials including a non-inspection target page.

To achieve the abovementioned object, according to an aspect of thepresent invention, an inspection system reflecting one aspect of thepresent invention comprises: an inspection part that compares a scannedimage obtained by scanning a sheet on which an image is formed on thebasis of a job with a reference image prepared in advance and therebyperforms inspection of the scanned image; and a hardware processor thatsets an inspection target page to be a target of inspection and anon-inspection target page to be excluded from inspection, for the job,wherein the hardware processor causes the inspection part to performinspection for the inspection target page and not to perform inspectionfor the non-inspection target page on the basis of the setting of thehardware processor, and the hardware processor creates an inspectionreport including scanned images of all pages of the job including thenon-inspection target page.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages and features provided by one or more embodiments of theinvention will become more fully understood from the detaileddescription given hereinbelow and the appended drawings which are givenby way of illustration only, and thus are not intended as a definitionof the limits of the present invention:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a configuration of an inspectionsystem according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating another configuration of aninspection system according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams illustrating a configuration of aninspection system according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are schematic views illustrating an inspection method (inthe case of an embossed sheet) according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating operation of an inspection systemaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an example of an inspection report according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is another example of an inspection report according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is another example of another inspection report according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating a problem when using sheet withpunch holes;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view illustrating a problem when using sheet withpunch holes;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view illustrating an example of a screen (jobedit screen) displayed on an inspection system according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic view illustrating an example of a screen(instruction screen) displayed on an inspection system according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, one or more embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of theinvention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments.

As described in Background, image forming apparatuses occasionallysuffer from dirt due to toner or the like, streaks, and spot-like imagenoise (fireflies) occurring in a document image on a sheet, ordegradation of color reproducibility or printing alignment accuracy. Tohandle these, an automatic inspection function is provided in the imageforming apparatus to inspect the sheet after image formation.

However, there are cases where sheets such as embossed sheets haveslightly varying unevenness for each of sheets. The variation in theunevenness leads to determination that there is a difference between thereference image and the inspection image formed on uneven patterns.Therefore, pages using a type of sheet unsuitable for the automaticinspection function are to be excluded from inspection targets. This,however, disables storage of inspection images for non-inspection targetpages.

As a result, an inspection report would include only the inspectionimage and the inspection result of the inspection target page, disablingproviding the print request client with a print result of all the outputmaterials including the non-inspection target page. Moreover, since theinspection report does not include inspection images of non-inspectiontarget pages, it is necessary to find out the non-inspection target pagefrom the actual output materials output in large quantities to check theprint results, causing a heavy burden on the user.

To handle this, according to an embodiment of the present invention, theinspection system includes: an inspection part that compares a scannedimage obtained by scanning a sheet on which an image is formed on thebasis of the job with a reference image prepared in advance and therebyperforms inspection of the scanned image; an inspection target settingpart that sets an inspection target page to be a target of inspectionand a non-inspection target page to be excluded from inspection, for ajob; an inspection controller that causes the inspection part to performinspection for the inspection target page and not to perform inspectionfor the non-inspection target page on the basis of the setting of theinspection target setting part; and an inspection report creation partthat creates an inspection report in a portable document format (PDF)file or the like, including scanned images of all pages including thenon-inspection target page.

In this manner, creating an inspection report that enables confirmationof print results including non-inspection target pages makes it possibleto confirm the print results of all output materials, allowing the printresults to be easily presented to the print request client. Moreover,since the print result can be visually confirmed even for non-inspectiontarget pages, it is not necessary to search for non-inspection targetpages from a large amount of output materials, making it possible toreduce the burden on the user. This also makes it possible to preventoutflow of faulty printed materials.

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In order to give further details on the above-described embodiment ofthe present invention, an inspection system, an inspection method, andan inspection program according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12 .FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic views illustrating a configuration of theinspection system of the present exemplary embodiment. FIGS. 3A and 3Bare block diagrams illustrating the configuration of the inspectionsystem of the present exemplary embodiment. FIGS. 4A to 4C are schematicviews illustrating an inspection method (in the case of embossed sheet)of the present exemplary embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustratingoperation of the inspection system of the present exemplary embodiment.FIGS. 6 to 8 are examples of an inspection report of the presentexemplary embodiment. FIGS. 9 and 10 are schematic views illustrating aproblem when using sheet with punch holes. FIGS. 11 and 12 are schematicviews illustrating an example of a screen displayed on the inspectionsystem of the present exemplary embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , an inspection system 10 of the presentexemplary embodiment is an apparatus that forms an image on a sheet,inspects the image formed on the sheet and outputs the image. Note thatalthough FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration in which an image formingapparatus 10 a for forming an image on a sheet is integrated with aninspection apparatus 10 b for inspecting the image formed on the sheet,it is allowable, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , to separate the imageforming apparatus 10 a that forms an image on a sheet from theinspection apparatus 10 b that inspects the image formed on a sheet. Thefollowing description will be given on the basis of the configuration ofFIG. 1 .

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3A, the inspection system 10 according tothe present exemplary embodiment includes a controller 11, a storage 12,a network I/F part 13, a display operation part 14, an image processor15, a printer 16, an image scanner 17, an inspection part 18, and asorter 19.

The controller 11 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 11 a, andmemory such as read only memory (ROM) 11 b and random access memory(RAM) 11 c. The CPU 11 a reads out a program (including an inspectionprogram) corresponding to the processing content from the ROM 11 b orthe storage 12 and executes the program developed to the RAM 11 c,thereby performing integrated control of operation of the inspectionsystem 10.

The storage 12 includes a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive(SSD), or the like, and stores a program (including an inspectionprogram) for controlling individual components by the CPU 11 a,information associated with processing functions of the own device,image data scanned by the image scanner 17, and an inspection reportcreated by an inspection report creation part 23 described below.

The network I/F part 13 includes a network interface card (NIC), amodem, or the like, and connects the inspection system 10 to acommunication network such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN) to perform data transmission and reception with externalinformation devices (for example, a client device).

The display operation part 14 includes a touch panel having apressure-sensitive or a capacitance-type operation part (touch sensor)in which transparent electrodes are arranged in a grid provided on adisplay part such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organicElectro Luminescence (EL) display, and functions as a display part andan operation part. The display part displays various operation screens(such as a job edit screen and an instruction screen described below),an image formation state, an operation state of individual functions, orthe like, in accordance with a display control signal input from thecontroller 11. The operation part receives user's various inputoperations (setting of a non-inspection target page on the job editscreen, setting of inspection report creation conditions on theinstruction screen, or the like), and outputs an operation signal to thecontroller 11.

The image processor 15 functions as a raster image processor (RIP),generates intermediate data (display list (DL) as an intermediatelanguage) from a job, rasterizes each of document pages to generateimage data in bitmap format. Furthermore, the image processor 15performs screen processing, gradation correction, density balanceadjustment, thinning, halftone processing, or the like on the image dataas necessary. Subsequently, the image processor 15 outputs the generatedimage data to the printer 16.

The printer 16 is an engine that executes a print process. Specifically,the printer 16 includes an exposure part that emits a laser beam toperform exposure on the basis of image data, a photoconductor drum, adeveloping device, a charging device, a photoconductor cleaner, and aprimary transfer roller, and further includes an image former to form atoner image in each of colors Yellow (Y), Magenta (M), Cyan (C), andBlack (K), an intermediate transfer belt that functions as anintermediate transfer body that is rotated by rollers to convey a tonerimage formed by the image former to the sheet, a secondary transferroller that transfers the toner image formed on the intermediatetransfer belt to the sheet, a fixing part that fixes the toner imagetransferred to the sheet, and a conveyor including a sheet feed rollerthat conveys the sheet, a registration roller, a loop roller, areversing roller, and a sheet discharge roller.

The image scanner 17 is a sensor that scans a printed sheet, and anexample of this is an in-line sensor provided on a sheet conveyance pathbetween the fixing part of the printer 16 and the inspection part 18.This in-line sensor includes three types of sensors, red (R), green (G),and blue (B), for example, and detects an RGB value corresponding to theamount of light reflected by the sheet, and outputs the value as imagedata.

The inspection part 18 compares a scanned image (inspection image)obtained by scanning a sheet on which an image is formed on the basis ofa job, and a reference image (referred to as a correct image in thepresent exemplary embodiment) serving as a reference for determinationprepared in advance, and thereby determines the quality of theinspection image (the presence or absence of a difference).

The sorter 19 is provided as necessary, and sorts the output materialinto a good output material without a difference and a faulty outputmaterial with a difference on the basis of the inspection result fromthe inspection part 18, and discharges each of sorted output materialsto a different sheet discharge tray.

Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, the controller 11 functions as acorrect image registration part 20, an inspection target setting part21, an inspection controller 22, an inspection report creation part 23,or the like.

Prior to actual printing, the correct image registration part 20registers an image obtained by scanning each of pages of a job by theimage scanner 17 to the storage 12 or the like, as a correct image.

The inspection target setting part 21 sets a page as an inspectiontarget (referred to as an inspection target page) and a page to beexcluded from a target of inspection (referred to as a non-inspectiontarget page) for the job. For example, the inspection target settingpart 21 determines whether the page is a non-inspection target page onthe basis of the sheet type information for each of pages included inthe job. This sheet type preferably includes one type out of specialsheets such as index sheets and embossed sheets, processed sheets havingpunch holes, and insertion sheets on which no image is to be formed.

The inspection controller 22 causes the inspection part 18 to inspectthe inspection target page and not to inspect the non-inspection targetpage on the basis of the setting of the inspection target setting part21. In addition, when there is a difference between the inspection imageand the correct image, the inspection controller 22 can control thesorter 19 to discharge or purge the page to a sheet discharge traydifferent from a tray for normal pages, or can cause the displayoperation part 14 to display a screen indicating that there is adifference between the inspection image and the correct image so as toprovide notification of an abnormality.

The inspection report creation part 23 creates an inspection report (forexample, a PDF file) including scanned images of all pages of the jobincluding non-inspection target pages. At this time, it is possible tocreate an inspection report that includes the inspection result and thescanned image for the inspection target page and that includes thescanned image for the non-inspection target page. Furthermore, theinspection report creation part 23 can add, to the inspection report,information that makes it possible to discriminate between theinspection target page and the non-inspection target page. For example,it is possible to combine information indicating that the page is anon-inspection target page to the scanned image of the non-inspectiontarget page, or create an inspection page list and describe theinspection target page and the non-inspection target page so as toenable discrimination from each other, in the inspection page list. Theinspection report creation part 23 causes the display operation part 14to display an instruction screen for allowing the user to designatewhether to create an inspection report including a non-inspection targetpage, as necessary.

The correct image registration part 20, the inspection target settingpart 21, the inspection controller 22, and the inspection reportcreation part 23 may be formed by hardware, or may be formed as aninspection program that causes the controller 11 to function as thecorrect image registration part 20, the inspection target setting part21, the inspection controller 22, and the inspection report creationpart 23 (in particular, the inspection target setting part 21, theinspection controller 22, and the inspection report creation part 23) sothat the CPU 11 a executes the inspection program.

Next, an inspection method using the inspection system 10 having theabove-described configuration will be described with reference toschematic views of FIGS. 4A to 4C. FIGS. 4A to 4C are examples in whichthe sheet type of some pages of the job is an embossed sheet.

First, the correct image registration part 20 registers a correct imageto be a target for comparison at the time of inspection. For example, animage obtained by scanning all pages of a job with a plain sheet isregistered as a correct image. At the time of inspection, an inspectionjob is executed after associating the job to be inspected with thecorrect image. The sheet type setting of the inspection job can befreely changed by the user. Accordingly, when the third page of a job of1 to 5 pages is set to an embossed sheet, the configuration willinclude, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, the first and second pages and thefourth and fifth pages with plain sheets, and the third page alone withan embossed sheet, so as to be a printed material actually output by theuser.

The inspection target setting part 21 automatically determines the pagehaving a designation of an embossed sheet set by the user, on the basisof sheet type information in page units included in the job.Subsequently, the inspection controller 22 causes the inspection part 18to exclude the page from the inspection on the basis of the setting ofthe inspection target setting part 21. In the case of the configurationof FIG. 4A, the embossed sheet is automatically excluded from theinspection target, and therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the firstand second pages and the fourth and fifth pages excluding the embossedsheet are the inspection targets.

Here, since the inspection result of only the inspection target page isoutput in the conventional inspection method, inspection images of thefirst and second pages and the fourth and fifth pages excluding theembossed sheet would only be stored. As a result, it would not bepossible to present the print results of all output materials to theprint request client, and there would be a need to search fornon-inspection target pages from the actual output materials output inlarge quantities to check the print results.

In contrast, in the present exemplary embodiment, the inspection imageof the third page being a non-inspection target page is also stored, andan inspection report (PDF file) including the third page being anon-inspection target is created, as illustrated in FIG. 4C. At thistime, information that makes it possible to discriminate the third pageas a non-inspection target is added, as necessary, to the file of thethird page being the non-inspection target. For example, a text of“non-inspection target” is combined with the scanned image. This makesit possible to confirm the print results of all output materials,allowing the print results to be easily presented to the print requestclient. This also eliminates the necessity to search for non-inspectiontarget pages from a large amount of output materials, making it possibleto reduce the burden on the user. Although FIG. 4C is a case whereinformation enabling discrimination of the page as the non-inspectiontarget is added to the scanned image of the non-inspection target page,it is sufficient that the inspection target page and the non-inspectiontarget page are discriminable. Accordingly, information enablingdiscrimination of the page as an inspection target may be added to thescanned image of the inspection target page.

Next, operation of the inspection system 10 of the present exemplaryembodiment (operation at the time of executing an inspection job) willbe described. The CPU 11 a expands an inspection program stored in theROM 11 b or the storage 12 into the RAM 11 c and executes the program,and thereby executes the processing of each of steps illustrated in theflowchart of FIG. 5 . It is assumed that the correct image registrationpart 20 has registered a correct image in the storage 12 or the like inadvance.

First, the controller 11 (inspection controller 22) reads out a correctimage from the storage 12 or the like (S101). Next, on the basis of thesheet type setting of the job, the controller 11 (the inspection targetsetting part 21) determines whether the pages of the job include a pageof a sheet type as non-inspection target (S102). In a case where a pageof a sheet type as non-inspection target is included (Yes in S102), thepage is set as a non-inspection target page (S103).

Next, the printer 16 forms an image of each of pages on the sheet, andthe image scanner 17 scans the sheet on which the image of each of pagesis formed to acquire an inspection image (S104). Here, in the presentexemplary embodiment, in order to allow the inspection image (scannedimage) of the non-inspection target page to be included in theinspection report, all pages included in the job are scanned to acquirethe inspection image.

Next, the controller 11 (inspection controller 22) determines whetherthe scanned page is an inspection target page (S105). When the scannedpage is not an inspection target page (No in S105), the process skips toS109. When the scanned page is an inspection target page (Yes in S105),the controller 11 (inspection controller 22) causes the inspection part18 to compare (S106) the inspection image acquired in S104 with thecorrect image read out in S101.

As a result of the comparison, in a case where there is a differencebetween the inspection image and the correct image (abnormalitydetected) (Yes in S107), the controller 11 (inspection controller 22)causes the sorter 19 to discharge or purge the page to a sheet dischargetray different from the sheet discharge tray for normal pages, or causesthe display operation part 14 to display a screen indicating that thereis a difference between the inspection image and the correct image so asto provide notification of the abnormality (S108).

Thereafter, the controller 11 (inspection controller 22) determineswhether inspection of all pages of the job has been completed (S109). Ina case where there is an uninspected page (No in S109), the controller11 returns to S104 and inspects the next page. After completion of theinspection of all the pages (Yes in S109), the controller 11 (inspectionreport creation part 23) creates an inspection report including theinspection image of all the pages and the inspection result of theinspection target pages (S110), and then displays the created report onthe display operation part 14, or outputs the report to the outside as aPDF file.

In the above flow, an inspection report is created and displayed on thedisplay operation part 14 after completion of the inspection of allpages of the job. Alternatively, however, it is also allowable tosequentially create an inspection report for a certain page at a stageof completion of inspection of the certain page (that is, the creationof the inspection report may be started before completion of theinspection of all pages of the job), or it is also allowable to displaythe inspection report of the page that has been inspected on the displayoperation part 14 before completion of the inspection of all pages ofthe job so as to be able to confirm the inspection result. Furthermore,in the above flow, printing, scanning, and inspection are performed foreach of pages. However, as illustrated in FIG. 2 , in a case where theimage forming apparatus 10 a and the inspection apparatus 10 b areprovided as separate apparatuses, it is allowable to print all pages ofthe job by the image forming apparatus 10 a and thereafter performscanning and inspection for each of pages by the inspection apparatus 10b, or it is also allowable to perform printing and scanning of all pagesof the job by the image forming apparatus 10 a and thereafter performinspection for each of pages by the inspection apparatus 10 b.

FIGS. 6 to 8 are an example of an inspection report for a job in whichthe sheet of the third page of pages 1 to 5 is an embossed sheet, andillustrate a case where there is an impermissible difference between theinspection image of the second page and the correct image and wherethere is a permissible difference between the inspection image of thefourth page and the correct image.

For example, the inspection report creation part 23 creates aninspection report including an inspection image of all pages (pages 1 to5) and an inspection result of inspection target pages (pages 1, 2, 4,and 5) as illustrated in FIG. 6 , or creates an inspection reportincluding the inspection images of all pages (pages 1 to 5) and thedifference images between the inspection images of the inspection targetpages (pages 1, 2, 4, and 5) and the correct images as illustrated inFIG. 7 . At this time, for example, a text indicating that the thirdpage is a non-inspection target is combined with the inspection image ofthe third page so that the third page can be discriminated as anon-inspection target page. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 8 , theinspection report creation part 23 may create an inspection reportincluding a list explicitly indicating inspection target pages(inspection page list) in addition to the inspection images of all pages(pages 1 to 5) and the inspection results (or difference images) of theinspection target pages (pages 1, 2, 4, and 5). In this case, since itis possible to determine which page is a non-inspection target pageusing the inspection page list, it would not be necessary to addinformation indicating that the page is a non-inspection target, to theinspection image.

FIGS. 6 to 8 illustrate an example in which the correct images of allpages are registered and the pages of the inspection job include anon-inspection target page. However, in a case where a non-inspectiontarget page is included at creation of the correct image, a scannedimage of the page is not to be stored as a correct image. Therefore, ina case where the inspection job is executed with the setting that allpages are of the sheet type (for example, plain sheet) as inspectiontargets, the inspection target page corresponding to the page having nocorrect image stored would be excluded from the inspection. In thepresent exemplary embodiment, the scanned image of the page excludedfrom the inspection is also included in the inspection report, making itpossible to confirm whether there is a faulty image by checking thescanned image.

In addition, in a case where all pages having correct images stored aredetermined as the non-inspection target pages, this means a situationwhere no correct image is present even when the inspection is performedby associating the inspection job with the correct images, leading tonon-execution of the inspection job due to stop control of the job.However, in the present exemplary embodiment, even when all pages of theinspection job are non-inspection targets, it is still possible toconfirm whether there is a faulty image by checking scanned images sincescanned images of all pages are included in the inspection report.

The case where the sheet type is an embossed sheet has been describedabove as an example. However, the similar applies to cases where thesheet type is special sheets such as index sheets, processed sheetshaving punch holes, and insertion sheets on which no image is to beformed.

For example, when printing on a sheet with punch holes, there are cases,as illustrated in FIG. 9 , where the positions of the punch holes arenot constant with respect to the sheet (horizontal positions and thevertical positions of the punch holes might be different). In this case,since an image of the punch hole with respect to the document image inthe scanned image might deviate, leading to erroneous detection as amisalignment of the sheet. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 10 , evenwhen the position of the punch hole is constant with respect to thesheet, the position of the punch hole might not be constant with respectto the print position of the document image. In this case, either theimage of the punch hole or the image of the document would result inmismatch in alignment of the correct image and the inspection image,leading to erroneous determination of an abnormal image. Furthermore, ina case where a residue (burr) remains around the punch hole during theproduction of the sheet with the punch hole and the residue is capturedin one of the correct image or the inspection image, there is apossibility of determination that there is a difference in comparisonbetween the images. In this manner, the case of a sheet having a punchhole also has a possibility that an image is erroneously determined tobe faulty. Therefore, a page to be printed on a sheet having a punchhole can be a non-inspection target page.

Moreover, index sheets or insertion sheets on which no image is to beformed are not to be inserted at the time of proof or sample outputbefore actual printing, but are to be inserted only during actualprinting, in some cases. In this case, there is no correct image for theindex sheets or insertion sheets. In addition, since no documentprinting is assumed on an index sheet or an insertion sheet, it is notnecessary to perform image inspection for the sheet. Therefore, the pageof the index sheet or the insertion sheet can be a non-inspection targetpage, similarly to the above-described sheet with punch holes.

When setting special sheets such as embossed sheets or index sheets,processed sheets having punch holes, insertion sheets on which no imageis to be formed, or the like, to non-inspection target pages, it ispossible to use a job edit screen 30 as illustrated in FIG. 11 . On thejob edit screen 30, the user can flexibly set the information of theembossed sheet in the sheet type box (refer to the thick solid lineframe) in the sheet setting field (lower center in the figure) of thejob edit screen 30. In addition, the user can flexibly perform settingfor the sheet with punch holes as to whether there is a punch hole inthe punch box (refer to the thick broken line frame) in the sheetsetting field (lower center in the figure) of the job edit screen 30.Accordingly, when an embossed sheet or a sheet with punch holes is setin a sheet feed tray, selecting a page in the page selection field(arrow or bar at the top of the figure) and setting an embossed sheet ora sheet with punch holes in the sheet setting field enables printing animage of each of pages of a job on a desired sheet. The sheet typeinformation is used at determination by the inspection target settingpart 21 as to whether the page is a non-inspection target page at thetiming of execution of an inspection job.

Although the above description is a case where an inspection report iscreated including an inspection image of a non-inspection target page,it is also possible to allow the user to select whether to include aninspection image of a non-inspection target page in the inspectionreport. In this case, the inspection report creation part 23 causes thedisplay operation part 14 to display an instruction screen 31 asillustrated in FIG. 12 . In a case where “Yes” is selected on theinstruction screen 31, the inspection report can be created includingthe inspection image of the non-inspection target page, and in a casewhere “No” is selected, the inspection report can be created withoutincluding the inspection image of the non-inspection target page.

As described above, the inspection system 10 includes the inspectionpart 18 that inspects a scanned image by comparing the scanned imageobtained by scanning a sheet on which an image is formed on the basis ofa job with a reference image prepared in advance. The inspection system10 includes: the inspection target setting part 21 that sets aninspection target page and a non-inspection target page to the job; theinspection controller 22 that causes the inspection part 18 to performinspection for the inspection target page and not to perform inspectionfor the non-inspection target page on the basis of the setting of theinspection target setting part 21; and the inspection report creationpart 23 that creates an inspection report including scanned images ofall pages of the job including the non-inspection target page. With thisconfiguration, it is possible to confirm printing results of all outputmaterials, allowing print results to be easily presented to the printrequest client. In addition, since the print result can be visuallychecked even for a non-inspection target page, it is not necessary tosearch for a non-inspection target page from a large amount of outputmaterials, and the burden on the user can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments andthe configuration and control can be changed suitably within a range notdeviating from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

For example, the above exemplary embodiment has described an example ofthe inspection system 10 integrating the image forming apparatus 10 awith the inspection apparatus 10 b. However, the inspection method ofthe present invention is also applicable to a case where the inspectionapparatus 10 b is operated in a standalone mode. In that case, theinspection apparatus 10 b can include a controller, a storage, aninspection part, and a display operation part as necessary, in which thecontroller can be set to function as a correct image registration part,an inspection target setting part, an inspection controller, and aninspection report creation part (by causing the CPU of the controller toexecute the inspection program).

The present invention is applicable to an inspection system thatinspects a scanned image obtained by scanning a sheet on which an imageis formed on the basis of a job, an inspection method to be used in theinspection system, an inspection program that runs on the inspectionsystem, and a recording medium recording the inspection program.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described andillustrated in detail, the disclosed embodiments are made for purposesof illustration and example only and not limitation. The scope of thepresent invention should be interpreted by terms of the appended claims

What is claimed is:
 1. An inspection system comprising: an inspectionpart that compares a scanned image obtained by scanning a sheet on whichan image is formed on the basis of a job with a reference image preparedin advance and thereby performs inspection of the scanned image; and ahardware processor that sets an inspection target page to be a target ofinspection and a non-inspection target page to be excluded frominspection, for the job, wherein the hardware processor causes theinspection part to perform inspection for the inspection target page andnot to perform inspection for the non-inspection target page on thebasis of the setting of the hardware processor, and the hardwareprocessor creates an inspection report including scanned images of allpages of the job including the non-inspection target page.